Counter stiffener and its manufacture



March 11, 1941- A. L. RUSSELL ETAL CPUNTER STIFFENER AND ITS MANUFACTURE Filed Dec. 5, 1938 I3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 11, 1941. A. L. RUSSELL ETAL COUNTER STIFFENER AND ITS MANUFACTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

March 11, 1941. RUSSELL ETAL 2,234,282

COUNTER STIFFENER AND ITS MANUFACTURE Filed Dec. 5, 1938 3 She'ets-Sheet 3 l lm Patented Mar. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COUNTER STIFFENER AND ITS MANUFACTURE.

Arthur L. Russell, Boston, and William M. Watson, Beverly, Mass., assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application December 5, 1938, Serial No. 243,996

7 Claims. (Cl. 12-146) This invention relates to counter stiffeners and work satisfactorily but at a substantial cost and the manufacture of counter stiifeners which are as an extra operation. primarily adapted for Goodyear welt shoes and With these considerations in mind the present more particularly to the provision of counter invention provides a universally applicable and stiffeners which will facilitate the lasting of this inexpensive counter flange treatment, and a 5 type of shoes at the portions thereof where the method of effecting such treatment, to provide upper materials, including the counter stiffener, a counter stiffener which, in the breast line area, are required to be wiped over the feather of the Will last in flat over the insole feather and anguinsole and bent at right angles to the feather to larly therefrom up against the sewing rib in posilie closely against the sewing rib to which they tion to be permanently fastened thereto in the *1 are to be attached in the finished shoe. ideal relation.

It has heretofore been proposed to mold or Conveniently the stiff inturned flange of an form the flange of a molded counter stiffener ordinary molded counter stiffener may be so v with upstanding marginal portions along its ends treated as to render its marginal portions at its '15 as shown for example in United States Letters ends sopliable widthwise that part or all of said T5 Patent No. 1,141,911 granted June 1, 1915, upon treated marginal portions may be bent up against an application filed in the name of Herbert J. the sewing rib without great resistance, while Percy. This counter stiffener met with limited leaving the remaining "portion of the flange unsuccess, however, because in practical shoe manuaffected by such treatment and retaining all of facturin-g no predetermined location for the upits stiffness to brace the shoe against pressure standing marginal portions is correct for the of the foot. The pliability is attained by indentvariety of styles and conditions encountered. For ing the flange, as herein shown by pressing lonexample, some styles of shoes require insoles to gitudinal corrugations or creases into the marbe channeled-on farther, and therefore the g nal por on only of t e fi These ea es sewing rib to be located farther from the edge or corrugations establish a plurality of closely of the insole feather, than the style represented adjacent lines of flexure extending parallel to perhaps by the next case of shoes to be lasted the sewing rib and provide a counter stiffener and sewn to that rib. In fact some styles of adapted for advantageous use with styles of shoes ,6 shoes present sewing ribs differently located on having d fer t Wid hs of insole feather, or a i, the inner and outer sides of the same shoe. These different width of feather on the inner side from and other conditions have made the Percy type that on the outer side of the insole. It will be of counter stiffener acceptable to a limited eX- noted that providing widthwise pliability of the tent only, and most welt shoe manufacturers desired portion of the flange by corrugating prescontinue to use molded counter stiffeners with sure removes none of the counter stiffener stock; v plain inwardly turned flanges. and, while the corrugations tend to produce lines Such counter stiifener flanges bridge from the of flexure parallel with the sewing rib, the flexing edge of the insole on an inclined plane up to the does not necessarily follow these lines, but the top of the sewing rib and ca not be lasted flat margin is rendered so pliable that it offers little down upon the feather and then abruptly up resistance to being formed into the angle between against the sewing ribas is necessary to obtain the feather and the upstanding sewing lip on 40 good shoemaking and correct appearance at the y line quired by the po o e Sewing breast line of the finished shoe. This necessitates rib relatively to insole feathers any Widtha difficult and not too successful breast line last- Referring nowto the accompanying awings, :4? m operation in which an attempt is made to Fig. 1 is a perspective of a counter stiffener 0 break the counter flange down to the feather m w present invention is .embedied; and fasten it down while leaving the margin of 2 1S perspective of portlon of a lasted shoe in which the counter has been incorporated; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the machine for forming indentations in the attaching flange of a counter stifiener;

the flange standing up against the sewing rib in position to be permanently fastened to the root 50 of the rib by the inseam. In fact a machine for preparing this region of the shoe for the inseam- 4 is a side elevation of the machine ing operation is disclosed in United States Letmin parts having been broken away and thers t'ers Patent No. 1,914,416 granted June 20, 1933, having been shown in Section; and in the names of George Goddu and Lester Mac- Fig. 5 is a cross-section through portions of a s5 donald, ssid'msemne bei'iig' capable of doing this pair of dies which are iisei in the machine.

a lining is present, are assembled together with an insole upon a last, pulled over and lasted.

Prior to the lasting operation the forward ends of the inturned attaching flange of the counter stiffener bridge over the edge of the insole on an incline to the top of the-sewing rib and, during the lasting operation, should be bent into; the

angle between the insole feather and the adjacent wall of the sewing rib so that the base portions of the forward ends of the flange (that is, those portions adjacent to the substantially upright wall) may lie flat upon the feather of the insole, and the marginal portions of the ends of the flange may lie parallel and close to'the sewing ribin position to be fastened to the rib by the inseam stitches which pass through the root of the rib. In order to facilitate the bending of the forward ends of the inturned flange of the counter stiffener in the manner described above, the marginal portions of the ends of the flange are indented to render said portions pliable. In the illustrated counter stiffener these indentations take the form of corrugations or creases l5 in said marginal portion, the remaining portions ll of the flange adjacent to the corrugations which are adapted to lie flat upon the feather of the insole, or upon the interposed lining if alining is present, being free from indentations. When therefore a shoe having embodied in it such a counter stiffener is lasted, the margins at the ends of the attaching flange may readily be bent widthwise so as to lie snug'lydn place in the angle between the feather andflthesewing' rib irrespective of the width of the feather andirrespective of whether the width of the feather is the same on the opposite margins of the insole.

-' In Fig. 2, which shows a portion of a lasted shoe, the insole is'indicated at I9, the sewing rib at 2|, and the' insolefeather at 23. In this shoe the upper 25, the lining 21, andthe counter stiffener are shown, and it will be noted that the flange of the counter stiffener together with the adjacent portion of the lining and the upper have been bent into place, the base I! of the flange lying parallel to the feather and the marginal portion of the flange having been bent so as to.

lie 'closeand parallel to the upstanding sewing rib, all three parts of the assembled upper having been fastened to thesewing rib by the staples 29 of the usual side lasting machine. Thus, with a counter stiffener having'the margins at the end portions of its inturned flange rendered pliable, welt shoes may be properly breast line lasted and staple fastened with the ends of the flange bedded down upon the feather and up against the sewing rib, or upon the interposed lining if, as shown in the illustrated shoe, a lining is present.

The illustrated counter stiffener may be made by subjecting the attaching flanges of an ordinary molded counter stiffener to pressure between dies having corrugations such that the ridges of the corrugations of one die register with the valleys of the other die. In Fig. 5 there are shown in cross section portions of two such dies, the ridges 4| .of the lower die43 being in register with the 'valleysfiofithe upper die .4 1.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, a machine is shown employing such dies in which a counter stiffener may have its attaching flange creased in the manner shown in Fig. 1. The machine comprises a base 49 having integral with it spaced upstanding flanges or standards 5|. Also integral with the base is a rib or guide 53 on which is mounted for vertical adjustment a support 55' for a form, said support having spaced downwardly extending flanges to provide a channel to. receive the upper portion of the guide 53. The support 55 is fastened to the guide 53 by cap screws 51 which pass through holes in the support and are threaded into the guide. In order to permit vertical adjustment of the support 55, the downwardly extending flanges on the support have inclined lower faces, one of which is indicated at 59 in Fig. 4; and these inclined faces rest upon inclined faces, one of which is indicated at 6|, of a forked wedge 63, the forks of which have between them a channel to receive the guide 53. This wedge (Fig. 4) has threaded through its base'-that is through the portion at the right hand end of the wedge as viewed in Fig. 4 with which the forks of the wedge are integral-a cap screw'65 the head of which is held from movement longitudinally of the screw by lugs 61 which are-integral with the base 49. Thus, after the cap screws 51 have been loosened, turning the screw; 65 will move the wedge 63 lengthwise and raise or lower the support 55.

Projecting upwardly from and integral with the support 55 is a member 69 having detachably fastened to its flat top by screws H and dowels'13 the lower die 63, the member 59 and the die 43 constituting a form to receive a molded counter stiffener the flange of which is to be creased. In order tohold the counter stiffener firmlyupon the form, two pressers '14 of spring steel and of the outline shown in Fig. 4 are fastened to the support 55 one at each side by screws 15. These pressers flare toward the front of the form to facilitate the placing of a counter stiffener on the form.- The upper die 41 is yieldingly mounted upon the under side-of a reciprocatingcross-head 11, said die being slidable upon the smooth portions of the stems of cap screws 19, the reduced upper ends of which are threaded into the cross-head. comparatively heavy coiled springs 8i, each having its upper end in a socket in the cross-head and its lower end in a registering socket in thedieurge the die downwardly at all times and normally hold it in contact with the heads of the cap screws 19L The springs are of sufficient-strength to crease the flange of a counter stiffener but will yield so as not to exert too great a pressure if the flange is comparatively thick. The cross-head H is provided with slides 83 at its opposite'sides which are received between guides 85 bolted to the upright standards 5| of the frame and lsreciprocated by means of a connecting rod 8'1. This connecting rod has a hubfat its lower end provided with a bore to receive a rod carried by the cross-head and has at its upper end a; split bearing to'receive a crank pin carried at the middle of a horizontal shaft 89 so that, when the shaft 89 is rotated, the crosshead is reciprocated.

Loose on the shaft 89 is a large gear 9!, said gear meshing with a small gear 93 fast on one end of a shaft 95 on the other end of which is fast a pulley 91 driven continually by a belt 99 from any suitable source of power. A single revolution may be imparted to the shaft .89 at any timeby-depressingand releasing a treadle llll to cause a one-revolution clutch to connect the hub of the large gear 9| with the shaft 89. This one-revolution clutch will not be described since the details of its construction form no part of the present invention, and any suitable one-revolution clutch may be used. It will be understood, however, that the shaft 89 comes to rest with the cross-head raised, as shown, and that when the treadle IIlI is depressed and then released, to pull down a treadle rod I03 against the force of a spring I05 and then to permit the spring to raise the rod once more into the position shown, the crosshead, which carries the upper die 41, will make a complete reciprocation and come to rest.

When the parts of the machine are in the positions shown, the operator places a molded counter stifiener on the form, which consists of the member 69 and the lower die 43, by holding the counter stiffener upside down and thrusting the stiffener forward with its wings between the spring pressers I4 and the sides of the form, and with the inturned front ends of the flange of the counter stiiTener resting upon the top of the die 43 and overlying the corrugations. In order to make sure that the counter stiffener shall be thrust forward so that its rear wall is in firm contact with the adjacent face of the form when the cross-head descends, a pusher IB'I (Fig. 3) is provided. The stem I08 of this pusher is pivoted to the upper die 41 about the stem of a screw Hi9; and a tension spring III, the upper end of which is hooked over a pin I I3 driven into one of the stationary guides 85 and the lower end of which is hooked in the left-hand end of the stem Hi8, tends at all times to swing the pusher down. When the machine comes to rest, the pusher is held up out of the way, so that the counter stiffener may readily be placed on the form, by a small block II5 fastened by screws to one of the stationary guides 85, said block engaging a small roll II! on a pin H9 driven into the stem I08. When the cross-head moves down, the pusher I01 is swung down about its pivot screw I09. As shown in Fig. 4, the lower end of the pusher I01 is bent out somewhat to provide a stiffener-engaging face; and, when the crosshead descends, this face engages the rear wall of a counter stiifener which the operator has placed on the form so as to push the rear wall of the counter stiffener firmly against the adjacent wall of the form if the stiffener is not already in such a position. In any event, this pusher ensures that the counter stiffener is properly in place on the form before it is engaged by the descending upper die.

The creasing or indenting dies 4|, 65 may have any suitable shape of cooperating faces to produce the desired pliability in the treated ends of the stiffener; and these dies are readily removable and replaceable by others for operation upon stifieners of different lengths positioned snugly in place by the pusher I01 upon the form.

constituted by the member 69 and the lower die. The machine for treating counter stiffeners is not claimed herein but forms the subject-matter of a divisional application Serial No. 332,788, filed May 1, 1940.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of readily bent to fit snugly into the angle between the insole feather and the sewing rib of a ribbed insole regardless of the width of the feather.

2. A molded counter stiffener for welt shoes having a substantially upright wall and an inturned flange, the marginal portion of which at its ends is indented to render a considerable portion pliable widthwise at any desirable locality.

3. A molded counter stiffener the inturned flange of which has in the margins of its end portions and extending substantially parallel to its edge a plurality of creases about any one of which a portion of said inturned flange may be bent to cause that portion to lie snugly in place in substantially parallel relation to the sewing rib of a welt insole.

4. A molded counter stiffener the inturned flange of which has in the margins of its end portions and extending substantially parallel to its edge a plurality of creases about any one of which a portion of said inturned flange may be bent to cause that portion to lie snugly in place in substantially parallel relation to the sewing rib of a welt insole, the remaining portion of the flange which is adapted to overlie the margin of the insole being free from creases.

5. A counter stiffener having in its lower margin and extending substantially parallel to its lower edge a plurality of creases about any one of which a portion of the margin may be bent to cause that portion to lie snugly in place in substantially parallel relation to the sewing rib of an insole of a welt shoe.

6. The method of treating the inturned attaching flange of a molded counter stifiener which consists in impressing in the margins of the end portions of said flangea plurality of indentations to render a considerable portion pliable widthwise at any desirable locality.

7. The method of treating the inturned attaching flange of a molded counter stiffener which consists in forming in the margins of the end portions of said flange a series of creases substantially parallel to the edges of said margins.

ARTHUR L. RUSSELL. WILLIAM M. WATSON. 

